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Sinkland Farms

Last Saturday, we had a fun day. We went to Sinkland Farms with Dave, Jess and kids and our friends the Horns. The kids had a great time playing at the hay maze.
Sam was very busy climbing. He didn’t have time to stop for a picture!
Daniel did finally stop just long enough for one picture.
Miss Katie just being adorable!
Here we are waiting for the main attraction!
Julie and Madison getting to ride the horses!
They both love horses and very seldom get the opportunity to ride. They have looked forward to doing this together for a long time.
It was a wonderfully fun day. After riding, we went to get pizza. We stopped at a little park and had a pizza picnic. We came home for a short time and then went to the Coon Hunters Club for our annual “critter chompin”. I was so happy Dave, Jess and kids got to come with us. They had not come to the critter chompin in several years. We all had a great time and there was lots of food.
We are chilly here with frost. Our temperature this morning was 24 degrees. I hope you all have a great day and God bless.
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Drying Peppers

Hello everyone! I wanted to share with you all what I do with the last of our peppers. I don’t care much for frozen or canned peppers. I did this last year too and it seemed to work really well.
I gather all that’s left in the garden. This is a combination of bell, banana, jalapeno and anaheim. I slice them about 1/2″ thick and dehydrate them. This took about 6 hrs in my dehydrator.
After they are dry, I put them into a blender. I didn’t get a picture of this step but you all know what it looks like. If you are using a lot of hot peppers and you have problems with the fumes from them, at this point you might want to use a mask. They can be a little powerful coming up from the blender.
This is the finished product. Isn’t it beautiful. I store this in an airtight container. I like to have some on the table in a homemade shaker right beside the salt and pepper. It is a great seasoning to add to food. I especially love it sprinkled on my eggs.
If you like this idea, check out http://homejoys.blogspot.com/2013/10/how-to-make-tomato-powder.html and see what she did with tomatoes. Our tomatoes are gone but I really want to try this next year. I hope you all have a great day and God bless.
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Marigolds

Hello everyone! I hope you all are having a good week. Things are good here. This is a picture of the marigolds that are at the upper garden. I had no idea they would look so pretty. I thought I had maybe planted them too close together but I think they look very nice.
We are still working on apples. We are almost done. We started school last week. It has went very well so far. Of course, usually the first weeks are mostly review. They are working on history as I make this post.
I am trying to think of what to tell you all we have been doing. Nothing exciting. APPLES, school, wood cutting. Just the normal things that we do. We cleaned out one of the freezers yesterday and did some organizing. Something that was much needed. I wanted to get an idea of what was in there. Things manage to float to the bottom of the abyss and get lost. Anyone have any ideas on how to prevent this? I am wanting to keep up better with what is in there so there won’t be any waste.
Well, another batch of juice is ready so I better get off. I hope you all have a great day and God bless.
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Canning Salmon

Yesterday we did something totally new to me. We canned fresh caught salmon. I have canned beef, deer, chicken but never salmon.
My friend, Retia, getting the jars ready.
Salmon in the jars ready for canning. We followed some directions I found on line. One tablespoon of vinegar and 1 tsp. salt in each pint jars, then the salmon. We pressured it for 1 hr. 40 min. on 10 lb. pressure.
We ended up with 25 pints. I love doing new things! Enjoy your day and God bless.
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A Few Pictures

Last weekend we took a ride along the Parkway. Things were beginning to look like fall.
There are some absolutely beautiful views.
The fall colors are really coming on now and I hope to get some more pictures this week.
I took this picture along a back road. I think it used to a church from the way it looks but I’m not sure.
Enjoy your Sunday and God bless.
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Old Fashioned Molasses Stack Cake

Hello everyone! I know for those of you who have been reading my blog for a while, this cake is nothing new. This is the first time though I have managed to get 7 layers. Usually it is 6. Yeah, me!! This recipe comes from my aunt who made the best stack cakes EVER!
Saturday we went with the Horns to Grayson Highlands. Guess what I got?
That’s right-molasses. They make them fresh there every year and they are SO good. Of course having fresh molasses makes me want to make stack cake especially when I have fresh made applebutter to go between the layers. God is so good!
This was the view as we stepped out of the vehicle-so beautiful!! It was a nice day. Last year when we went it rained. However, the rain must have kept lots of people away as it was much more crowded this time.
They also have a craft sale at the festival. So much to look at.
Beautiful quilts! We had a great time with great friends! I hope you all enjoy your evening and God bless.
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Apple Pie Filling

I wanted to share this recipe for making apple pie filling. I have made pie filling before and canned it and was not super pleased with the results. It seems my recipe was a little too runny and the pie didn’t set up well. This recipe is new to me but it is definitely a keeper. I got the recipe from the Mennonite Country Style Recipes and Kitchen-Secrets. This is one of my all time favorite cookbooks and if you ever have to opportunity to buy it, I highly recommend it. Anyway, here is the recipe!
9 1/2 cups water, 4 1/2 cups sugar, 1 1/2 cups cornstarch, 1 tsp. salt, 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp. ground allspice. Combine in large saucepan. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add 3 tbsp. lemon juice. Slice apples directly into jar adding layers of syrup as you fill (otherwise there will be too many air pockets). Leave at least 1 in. headspace. If jars are filled too full, syrup will spew out during processing. Tighten lids and process in boiling water bath for 25 min. Yields approx. 7 qts.
Well, we better get busy. Enjoy your day and God bless.
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Rainbow

Hello everyone! I thought I would share a few pictures of a beautiful rainbow God gave us the other evening.
It was very pretty. Today we went to Pastor Tom’s to pick apples. We ended up picking about 11 bushels. I think you all can guess what we will be doing for a while. I also wanted to share with you all a great post I found this morning on making coffee creamer. This sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try them out. You can check out all the flavors here http://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/2013/03/homemade-coffee-creamer-over-20-flavor-varieties.
Well, I better get off here. I hope you all have a great evening and God bless.
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Table and Chairs

I wanted to show you all the table and chairs we have been working on. Hubby made us the table years ago. We just painted it to match the new chairs. I think they look very nice!
This chair used to sit on my mom’s porch.
Then just a few flower pictures Grace took the other day.
Enjoy your day and God bless.



























